Safety off shore drilling and pumping platform

ABSTRACT

A safety off-shore drilling and pumping platform is provided wherein the platform is equipped with a large catchment basin which is spaced above the ocean floor and which has an opening therein so that drilling and pumping operations can be conducted within the catchment basin. In the event of an oil leak means are provided for recovering oil which rises in the catchment basin, saving the oil and preventing pollution.

United States Patent 1 1 Cunningham 1 July 17, 1973 1 SAFETY OFF-SHORE DRILLING AND 3,513,910 5 1970 Townsend, Jr 175 9 x PUMPING PLATFORM 3,599,434 8/1971 Missud 61/46 3,500,841 3/1970 Logan 61/1 F X lnvemorr Byron Cunningham, g 3,535,884 10/1970 Chaney 61 465 Calif. 3,548,605 12/1970 Paull et al. 61/1 F [73] Assignee: Offshore Recovery System Inc. 5

Primary Examiner-Jacob Shap1ro [2 Flledl J 1971 An0rneyCar1 Hoppe, Robert G. Slick et a1. [21] Appl. No.2 153,507 [57] ABSTRACT 52 11.5. C1. 61/46, 61/1 F, 210/242 A safety Off-Shore drilling p pi platffirm is p 51 [BL CL 1102 1 00 502 23 00 o 3 00 v1ded wherein the platform 15 equlpped w1th a large [58] Field 61 Search 61 46, 46.5, 1 F; Catchment basin which is Spaced above the 999a" 210 2 DIG. 114/5 75 7 and which has an opening therein so that drilling and pumping operations can be conducted within the 5 a Cited catchment basin. in the event of an oil leak means are UNITED STATES PATENTS provided for recovering oil which rises in the catch- 3 681 8H9, H d 61/46 ment basin, saving the oil and preventing pollution.

y e 3,545,215 12/1970 Bun-us 61/465 X 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures 17 I 3 H g I Z] 1 53 j 2 h 2 .i 1 a 2 5: 1 e 7 E v 35 SAFETY OFF-SHORE DRILLING AND PUMPING PLATFORM SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an oil well drilling platform having a catchment basin as part of the structure so that should there be an accident or other unfortunate occurrence during the drilling of a well, any oil which leaks will be caught. This prevents the wastage of oil and also the possible pollution of ocean waters.

In the past many attempts have been made to make off-shore well drilling safe but these have ordinarily been emergency measures to be applied'after there has been an accident.

Oil wells are ordinarily cased to different depths and frequently there is oil leakage below the casing and the leak may come to the surface some distance from the oil well itself. The device of the present invention is effective regardless of where a leak occurs so that even if the leak is considerably displaced from the oil well itself, it will nevertheless be contained.

Preferably the device of the present invention forms a part of the platform structure of the oil drilling rig although it can be made as a separate structure which can be moved into place when a leak occurs.

The structure of the present invention preferably contains a system for recovering the oil and salvaging it, thus preventing wastage as well as pollution.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, an oil separator structure is included with the drilling rig so that oil and water which may be emulsified and brought to the surface together can be separated on the drilling rig. Further, the waste water, which may contain a minor proportion of entrained or emulsified oil, is returned to the catchment basin rather than to the sea so that there is no pollution even from the water which may contain a minor proportion of oil.

Other features and advantages of the invention are brought out in the balance of the specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a structure embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section view on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing by reference characters there is shown an oil well drilling platform 1 having support legs 3, each of which has a foundation element 5 extending to the bottom of the ocean floor. Adjustable jacks 7 are employed so that the platform may be leveled on an irregular bottom.

The catchment basin itself can take the form of an inverted funnel having a conical section 9 leading to a tubular section 11. Although the funnel has been shown as being conical it is obvious that it can be in various configurations and might have a rectangular bottom and it is not necessarly symmetrical. In other words the tubular portion 11 might be off to one side of the converging section.

The top of the tubular section 11 has an opening therein so that a drilling string or oil recovery pipe 13 can pass therethrough. Preferably a seal 15 is provided at the top of the funnel so that escaping gas can be caught. For this purpose a pipe 17 may enter the tubular portion and the structure may include one or more gas recovery vessels 19.

Near the top of the converging portion of the catchment funnel a pipe 21 is provided which leads to a pump 23 and a separation vessel 25. In the event of oil leakage, the oil will naturally collect at the top of the funnel and in the tubular portion thereof and can be pumped out through 21 into the separation vessel 25. In the separation vessel two phases are formed, namely an upper oil phase 27 and a lower aqueous phase 29. The oil can be recovered through pipe 31 and taken off to suitable storage means. The aqueous phase 29 will, in all probability, retain some oil contamination so preferably the water is released through pipe 33 into the catchment basin to prevent pollution.

It should be particularly noted that the bottom of the catchment basin 9 does not extend to the bottom of the formation so that a substantial amount of space as at 35 is left between the bottom of the ocean floor and the bottom of the catchment basin. Thus, water can flow freely into the catchment basin as oil is removed through the pipe 21. The oil flows upwardly into the catchment basin by gravity along and does not provide any positive pressure within the catchment basin which might cause oil to be forced out. Further, oil is only pumped after it reaches the top of the catchment basin which largely prevents emulsification of the oil and water.

The device of the present invention permits drilling for oil in sensitive areas where even a minor leak might cause a disaster. Since the catchment basin is always in place, even the initial leakage is caught. Since the catchment basin forms part of the drilling structure, it is always in place so that after the drilling is over and the oil is merely being pumped, it will still prevent any leakage which might occur during the life of the well.

Many variations can be made on the exact structure shown without departing fromthe spirit of this invention. The catchment basin might be rectangular, square, or in various configurations depending upon the particular application of the device. Although a single, tubular structure 11 has been shown for a single drilling rig, it is obvious that this might be enlarged so that several drills or pipes might run into the vessel. Further, a single catchment basin might have a number of upright sections as at 11 so that a plurality of wells could be serviced from a single catchment basin.

We claim:

11. An off-shore drilling rig including a drilling platform supported above the surface of the water by support legs having foundation elements extending to the bottom of an ocean floor wherein the improvement comprises a catchment basin in the form of a vessel, mostly under the water surface, supported by said drilling rig and having a relatively large open bottom in free communication with the ocean and a closed top portion whereby any oil or gas discharged within said catchment basin will be held within said basin, said basin extending above the water surface and having an opening therein with means for drilling and pumping the well through said opening with sealing means around said drilling and pumping means whereby gas and oil cannot escape through said opening, said rig including pump means with the inlet for said pump means slightly below the water surface inside the catchment basin for withdrawing oil which may be contaminated with water, means for discharging said oil into a separaphase to a point inside said catchment basin whereby any oil contained in the separated water can separate from said water inside the catchment basin and be recycled.

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1. An off-shore drilling rig including a drilling platform supported above the surface of the water by support legs having foundation elements extending to the bottom of an ocean floor wherein the improvement comprises a catchment basin in the form of a vessel, mostly under the water surface, supported by said drilling rig and having a relatively large open bottom in free communication with the ocean and a closed top portion whereby any oil or gas discharged within said catchment basin will be held within said basin, said basin extending above the water surface and having an opening therein with means for drilling and pumping the well through said opening with sealing means around said drilling and pumping means whereby gas and oil cannot escape through said opening, said rig including pump means with the inlet for said pump means slightly below the water surface inside the catchment basin for withdrawing oil which may be contaminated with water, means for discharging said oil into a separation means, said separation means including a chamber whereby two phases are formed, namely, an upper oil phase and a lower aqueous phase with means for removing and recovering oil from said upper oil phase and means for discharging water from said aqueous phase to a point inside said catchment basin whereby any oil contained in the seParated water can separate from said water inside the catchment basin and be recycled. 